was a city

Cities of Japan

||A is a local administrative unit in Japan. Cities are ranked on the same level as and , with the difference that they are not a component of...

 located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. At the time of its merger, the city had an estimated population

Population

A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...

 of 78,165 and a density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 of 11,495 persons per km². The total area was 6.8 km².

The area of modern Tanashi prospered during the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

 as a post station

Shukuba

were post stations during the Edo period in Japan, generally located on one of the Edo Five Routes or one of its sub-routes. They were also called shukueki . These post stations were places where travelers could rest on their journey around the nation...

 on the Ome Kaido and Tokorozawa Kaido, and was part of ancient Musashi Province

Musashi Province

was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Prefecture, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama...

. After the Meiji Restoration

Meiji Restoration

The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...

 it came under the jurisdiction of the short-lived prefectures of Shinagawa (1868) and Irima (1871), before becoming part of Kanagawa

Kanagawa Prefecture

is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...

  in 1872. During the early Meiji period

Meiji period

The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...

 (1878) cadastral reform, it became the town of Tanashi within Kitatama District

Kitatama District, Tokyo

was a district in the Japanese prefecture of Kanagawa from 1878 to 1893 and then in the prefecture of Tokyo until 1970.In 1878, the Meiji government made the first step to introduce modern administrative divisions on the municipal level: The districts were created from the premodern districts ...

 in Kanagawa. The entire district was transferred to the administrative control of Tokyo Metropolis in 1893. Tanashi was connected to central Tokyo by train from 1927. Tanashi was elevated to city status in 1967.

In 2001, the neighboring city of Hoya

Hoya, Tokyo

was a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. At the time of its merger, the city had an estimated population of 102,720 and a density of 11,350 persons per km². The total area was 9.05 km²....

 merged with

Merger and dissolution of municipalities of Japan

Municipal mergers and dissolutions carried out in Japan can take place within one municipality or between multiple municipalities and are required to be based upon consensus.- Merger policy:...

 Tanashi to form the new city of Nishi-Tōkyō, and thus Tanashi no longer exists as an independent municipality.